As most now know, the great Gil Scott-Heron passed away late last week. The revolutionary poet, musician, and author has been a long-time favorite of Giant Step, having played many of our earliest shows under the Groove Academy banner in the early 90′s. The image headlining this post is the flyer from our 1992 show. After the jump, you’ll find a few more vintage Giant Step concert flyers from shows we’ve done with Gil; you are welcome to download the flyers and add them to your collection.

Our friends at The Revivalist have put together a beautiful post detailing Gil’s journey and his contributions along the way. We encourage you to give it a read – the man’s influence and reach is both expansive and inspiring.

We would like to leave you with a lovely one-hour mix by Twit One entitled, A Salute to Gil Scott-Heron.

John, Daniel, and David comprise The Postelles and unlike your typical New York City bands, which often hail from Brooklyn, these fellas are through and through Manhattanites – born and raised. They spent much of their younger days locked in their high school’s closets jamming out to music while everyone else’s faces melted into their books. Bred on a mutual love for early 50′s and 60′s rock and roll, these young men have found inspiration in The Stones, The Beatles, and Blondie. The poppy rockers release their self-titled debut album on June 7th and are offering Giant Stepper’s one of their favorite songs, “Hold On,” for free download.

Oddisee released two new tracks today: “Better Late,” an almost cinematic breezy tune and “Indian Summer,” a more uptempo beat with a trance inducing electro-house loop at the focal point. Mello Music Group is offering the two songs for free download to complement the artist’s May 17th release, Odd Seasons, an album compiling his free-for-download season themed EP’s – Odd Spring, Odd Summer, Odd Autumn, and Odd Winter.

Justice bears a gift from their forthcoming album. Quite fitting, the “Civilization” video comes just in time to celebrate our survival of Armageddon. It features graphic sci-fi visuals showcasing crumbling mountains and herds of livestock complete with thunder sound-FX one time for ya mind. And you’d swear dude sings something about a minotaur. Awesome. Suggested weekend plans? Locking yourself in your bedroom and rocking the eff out to this joint on repeat. Eff yeah!

Sade just released a great Playlist Facebook App, which lets you choose your favorite songs from the complete Sade catalog, and then share your playlist with your friends. You’ll also get a chance to win the Ultimate Sade Prize Pack which consists of Tickets to a Sade show, an Amex gift card, and their latest release The Ultimate Collection.